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Post by toei on Jul 30, 2024 9:33:48 GMT -5
After putting a little time on Power Rangers: The Movie SNES, I'm sure I never made it past the first level before, and that's because the game is extremely dull. It's definitely a SNES action game. I stuck with it longer this time (Stage 4) and while some of the later levels do have mini-Shinobi elements (the occasional crate to duck behind), the level design is extremely lacking. Shinobi and Rolling Thunder work because you have these short levels where the tension is always high, here it's just these long flat lines that go on and on, and all you have is a lame jab. If you use a credit against the boss at the end, you have to replay the whole thing, which is terrible. Nothing exciting ever happens, just the same few enemies, one by one, over and over. You don't have those clusters where you have to figure out some kind of strategy to take them all without getting hit. Even when they do a snowboarding level, they make it boring. You're going super slowly, again it goes on for way too long, and the obstacles are far between. There's no intensity to the game. It's all so sedate. The second boss was little better, but overall they're super basic. I just beat a boss where the strategy was you hit, you jump planes. He jumps planes, you hit it, you jump planes. You have to do this like 20 times, and it takes a while before he follows you every time, so it's quite a boring and simplistic fight. Oh, and the jumping attack sucks. It's a jump punch instead of a jump kick, so it's very rare you can use it without taking damage. So yeah, I can't see myself sticking with this. It's an action game devoid of action.
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Post by Xeogred on Jul 30, 2024 10:47:12 GMT -5
Well, there's two opposing opinions for Power Rangers - The Movie (SNES) for you readers out there.
Jewel Master annoyed me a bit more with the full level reset upon death.
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Post by Ex on Jul 31, 2024 9:15:56 GMT -5
 Title: Kane & Lynch 2: Dog DaysGenre: third-person-cover-shooter Platform: Xbox 360 Region release played: USA Year of release: 2010 Developer: Io Interactive Publisher: Square Enix Graphics: 4/5 Audio: 2/5 Challenge: 4/5 Fun factor: 2/5 Premise: The bad guys that hate each other are doing bad guy stuff again. A gun deal goes bad when a triad boss's daughter is accidentally killed by K&L, and the diabolic duo have to GTFO of China. Players will shoot thousands upon thousands of bullets and kill hundreds upon hundreds of bad guys/innocent bystanders. There's a parade of cutscenes explaining how K&L are perpetually inept. That's it, that's the game.   +Much better gunplay mechanics than the first K&L. +Game engine runs way smoother than the first K&L, with nary a glitch. +Above average environment design (from an aesthetic realism standpoint). +Psychotic Lynch is the "protagonist" this time (as opposed to boring Kane). +Split-screen co-op is still supported, and this time the split's horizontal. -The gameplay is entirely one note, to the point Lynch even mocks it. -The difficulty in co-op mode is still not balanced well, with the partner resurrection mechanic made nigh useless. -The plot's not as interesting or well portrayed as the first K&L (with a one second ending). -Stupid mosaic censorship to hide gore in an M-rated game. -I had to stare at bloody naked dudes for far too long. Conclusive thought: Both Kane & Lynch games are crime dramas that push video game boundaries, while failing to provide good enough gaming to matter.Ex's time to beat: 4.5 hours (beat co-op with my wife who was not good at this game) Ex's rating: 6/10 |
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Post by toei on Jul 31, 2024 9:41:46 GMT -5
I read the Kane & Lynch 2 post before, what happened to it?
I've decided to give Power Rangers: The Movie another shot. While I still think my complaints hold - levels are still too long, and often boring - I disliked it less. Also, things pick up in Level 5 and I'm guessing until the rest of the game. The enemies are more dangerous and there more hazards and trap. It still sucks that you have to replay those long-ass two-part levels when you die, but it's actually decent stuff at that point.
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Post by toei on Jul 31, 2024 10:32:10 GMT -5
Alright, I beat Power Rangers: The Movie (SNES). I was exactly one hit away from death when I beat the final boss (Ivan Ooze). Turns out there's an escape level after that, but the Score Bonus from beating the boss gave me two extra lives (at least I think that's happened) so I was fine. The game really does step up in the last 3 levels (out of 7). Xeogred wasn't wrong after all, there is pretty good stuff there. It's just that it starts really slowly. First level is just a flat-out bore, second level has a so-so first half and a better second half and boss, third is so-so, fourth is decent, and then it's all pretty good from there. The pacing issues were still a thing for me - I couldn't believe Stage 5 was still going, even though it's a good one - but apart from that, it's a decent game in its genre once it finally gets going. I'd say it's worth playing, if you can stick it past the dull beginning. The challenge picks up too. It's not super hard or anything, but by the time you get to the 3 levels at the end, you have to be careful, and you can't cheese the last two bosses with plane-jumping. I'd give it 6/10, meaning "worth a playthrough". EDIT - Another run, one credit. The game is generous with extra lives from Score, so if you don't play too badly, you can pretty easily extend that credit through the entire game. |
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Post by Xeogred on Jul 31, 2024 14:13:33 GMT -5
Hah, some redemption there. I agree the first level sucks. I liked it a fair bit after that though, levels, boss, music, etc was all good to me. Ivan was kind of lame though. I didn't expect an escape sequence after that.
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Post by Sarge on Aug 1, 2024 14:51:41 GMT -5
HRG Effect? Snagged Power Rangers SNES for $10 + tax at GS.
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Post by Xeogred on Aug 1, 2024 19:37:38 GMT -5
 Great price for that game.
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Post by Xeogred on Aug 2, 2024 22:00:31 GMT -5
Mystic Defender ~45 minutes (used save states in spots) Normal
This was a good time overall. Had to double check some dates here, Mystic Defender came out in 1989, whereas Jewel Master was 1991. That adds up since a lot of Mystic Defender was a little more primitive production wise. The music was kind of weak but the really loud charging sound effect drowned out a lot of it haha. All that said, I thought all of this game was pretty fun. Starts off in a very Shinobi-esque forest and temple area, then you start going into some weird alien looking caves and some straight up HR Giger-like areas. Those two levels were really cool. Lot of platforming and traps, fleshy walls you gotta blow up. The one level with the instant death lava pits was some whiplash though, that's not really in any other place in the game. The platforming was kind of funky there too, I think one time I clipped through one of the pillars. It reminded me of level 3 in Super Ghouls and that one lava platforming section leading up to the second half of the level. All the bosses were cool here too with some variety. Last boss was kind of lame though, I eventually found a spot I could duck into and use the spreadshot/bouncing ball thing to safely attack it indefinitely without getting hit or moving myself. But that weapon did so little damage and it was hard to detect if I was actually hurting the boss. It just took a long time. I used the screen flash attack on that boss and the flying boss in the previous level. All the weapons were fun. The fire flamethrower thing was the coolest with how you could move it around, it destroyed projectiles, and I think it did the most damage aside from the fully charged up buster shot. Difficulty wasn't too high. I did get a game over and I'm not sure if I had infinite continues or what, but I was able to jump right back in the final level. It probably wouldn't be too tough to beat this one legit with a little practice.
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Post by Xeogred on Aug 3, 2024 20:24:27 GMT -5
Shiten Myouou (Shadow Blaster) ~30 minutes
Played the Japanese version from toei's advice, though I jumped into the US version after and wasn't quite sure what the difference was. The difficulty was amusingly all over the place. Some parts and bosses seemed pretty tough, especially if you didn't have a character with a good upgraded weapon. But still, coming off Mystic Defender and being Mega Man himself, charging up my attacks throughout most of this playthrough wasn't a problem. But so I got a few game overs, continues seemed infinite. Yet then in the back half of the game I knocked out two levels with the boomerang guy solo. Fully upgraded and all. His attacks were really useful for hitting those "tall" or floating bosses with particular weak points. I liked the old man too (?, bottom left) who had some spreadshot with his charged attacked. Kind of unusual that petite female character had the worst jump and speed for once, but her weapon did tons of damage. This was a lot like TMNT NES, where you can switch between characters on the fly mid level at any point, and should do so strategically to balance out where their health is. Switch back to heal someone at times, etc. The level design is kind of barren and weird, but I think the point was to roam around them a bit to upgrade your characters' attack power, so that's cool. They were all decent levels, nothing too crazy. The track I linked above was a real banger, maybe cooler than anything I heard in Jewel Master and Mystic Defender. Overall this was a fun simplistic action platformer to hit up tonight. These are definitely hitting the spot for me right now. |
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Great price for that game.